Archives - November 2013

'Tis the season to make a difference in the lives of kitties! VOKRA carries gift cards for lots of the places that you shop at every day. Why not use our gift cards and accomplish two objectives - support VOKRA and do your regular shopping!

Here's how it works. We sell a gift card for the full face value (say $100). We receive a commission on each of the cards sold. It varies by retailers. If it is 7%, then VOKRA would receive $7 automatically for your gift card purchase.

Check the order form for a list of retailers. If you don't see one of your favourites, ask!

Cats are domesticated animals and need safe shelter, food and companionship provided to them for survival.

VOKRA has seen an increased amount of abandoned pets. VOKRA suspects it is because of the lack of available housing that allows pets or lack of pet owner resonsibility to have pets spayed and neutered or perhaps other reasons.

Many of these pets become coyote food, others starve to death and a few are found by VOKRA, sometimes too late.

Many cats suffer from disease and starvation when left to fend for themselves because owners do not spay and neuter their pets, leaving litter after litter to be born and suffer. Or because owners move away, leave pets behind because the pet has become "too old" or other shameful, inhumane excuses they tell themselves.

Please adopt, don't shop and adopt for life! Pets are forever pets, not "until" pets; until you move, until you find a boyfriend...

Thankfully, some pictured here were saved by VOKRA volunteers. Can you imagine what would have happened to them if VOKRA volunteers did not find them?

Most of Canada's 10.2 million owned cats live with other cats. Owning multiple felines is appealing because, when they get along, cats can provide comfort, playtime and mental stimulation for each other in a species-compatible way. And of course, doubling up the cats doesn't double the workload in terms of feeding, cleaning litter boxes and visits to the veterinarian - there are economies of scale, too.

Despite this, animal scientists have often questioned whether multi-cat households are good for cat welfare. It seems likely that the domestic cat evolved from Middle Eastern wild cats between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago. So, is sharing territory and resources under the same roof a good idea for a domesticated species that has evolved from a solitary, free-ranging predator? There is already some evidence that cats living in groups have more welfare problems than singly housed cats. For example, "inappropriate elimination" (identifiable as peeing and pooping in places you'd rather they didn't) and lower urinary tract disease both occur more frequently in cohabitating cats than singletons. And yet, feral cats will often choose to congregate around common resources, such as farm cats in a rodent-infested barn. So, what do cats really prefer? This question prompted a new study into the well-being of cats living singly, in pairs and in groups. The results, published this month in the Journal of Physiology & Behavior, used fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM) to measure cats' stress levels. Just like in humans, this metabolite of the stress hormone, cortisol, increases when cats are stressed.

The study's results provide relief for many cat owners, indicating that cat stress levels do not
differ according to the number of cats they live with - unless the cats are under two years old.

Surprisingly, young cats and kittens living alone were more stressed than those living with other felines.

The researchers also identified another risk factor for stress. The study compared cats that enjoyed being petted with those that avoided it, and with those that didn't like it but were forced to tolerate it anyway.

GCM levels were highest in the cats that reluctantly put up with being petted. The study's authors hypothesize that living with other cats is good for cats that don't like to be stroked, because owners have other outlets for their petting needs.

So, lessons to be heeded for us cat owners. First off, getting two young cats or kittens instead of one is better for their well-being, and helps to get more shelter cats adopted too. Secondly, if our cat dislikes being petted, we should let them be, otherwise we are probably going to stress them out. Lastly, if you have one or more cats that seem anxious or tense, speak to your veterinarian or clinical behaviourist who can provide resources to help.

Dr. Rebecca Ledger is an animal behaviour scientist, and sees cats and dogs with behaviour problems on veterinary referral across the Lower Mainland. Read her blog at vancouversun.com/pets